Central location for climate knowledge

A lot is happening on the BES islands to mitigate the effects of climate change, but for a long time information on this was fragmented. The BES Climate Impact Atlas offers a solution to this by bringing together the available knowledge in a central location. The atlas is publicly available and free for anyone to use.

Understanding the effects of climate change

The atlas is the result of a broad collaboration to help governments, residents and communities understand the effects of climate change in their own region. For example, the atlas provides support to the Public Entity of Bonaire (OLB) to develop climate plans. Furthermore, the atlas is also suitable for educational institutions, students and businesses.

Climate information for the BES islands

The Climate Impact Atlas BES consists of a viewer with which you can view various climate effects for Bonaire and climate statistics for all islands. The atlas looks at the current situation and the range in which climate change will develop in the future. This information is based on the KNMI’23 scenarios.

Climate stories and further development

The atlas also contains climate stories about various climate risks and themes, such as flood risks, the health of coral on Bonaire, and the cooling effect of greenery and land use. In the coming years, we want to further develop the atlas. For instance, there is an ambition to develop maps for Sint Eustatius and Saba, and to include stories from the islanders.

Who contribute to the development of the atlas?

The Climate Impact Atlas BES is funded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, with CAS as coordinator. Data for the atlas comes from the Dutch Caribbean Biodiversity Database (DCBD), the Institute for Environmental Studies (VU-IVM), the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) and Wageningen University & Research (WUR). The NWO programme Island(er)s at the Helm helps to integrate the perspective and knowledge of islanders into the atlas.

Other organisations involved

The Climate Impact Atlas BES is supported by the Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance (DCNA), the Public Entity of Bonaire (OLB), the TERRAMAR Museum, STINAPA, EcoVision, Wageningen Environmental Research (WENR), the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), the Marine Information and Data Centre (IHM), Deltares, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).